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October 2015

COMPRESSIONI

ProjectB presents the first solo show in Milan by the Italian artist Ivan de Menis.His sixteen artworks on display, all different in size, open a window on
a world made of colours and resin; they are a reference to time, which
makes the research for a specific pictorial sensibility become the
foundation of the artwork itself.

“My art is connected to time. “Tessere”, “Rette”, “Tondi” and “Compressioni” are steps towards the completion of my personal alphabet.” Ivan de Menis

This exhibition is a journey through the artist’s language, and it goes back over the fundamental stages of his artistic path: from the series of small works “Tondi” to his last pieces, included in the “Compressioni” series and presented in Milan for the first time, whose surface has been contaminated with materials such as fabric and polystyrene.

These works come to life thanks to the gradual applications of tone-on-tone colours and to the overlapping of glazing that recall Veneto tonalism, thus becoming a symbol for the artist’s strong bond with his origins.

The artist locks his works in cages of plexiglas and polystyrene, and starts pouring resin to make them slowly gain volume; he then opens the cages and lets his creations “free” to solidify. This procedure is repeated an endless number of times, so that with every layer the artist can overcome the passing of time. The process stops only when the artworks get eventually placed in space.

The equilibrium existing between time, colours and volume can be noted in the contrast between the bright and smooth surface of the front and the rough look of the sides, all aspects that show the complexity of his work and the relationship between matter and sculpture.